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Coral Vue Hydros

Upgrading Fluval Evo 5 for softie reef- what would you use?


Tired

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If I get a Fluval Evo 5, what would everyone suggest I set it up with? I want to keep soft corals and rock flower nems, maybe a hardy stony coral eventually, and an anemone shrimp or similar.

 

The way I see it, I need: 

Better pump for filter (just to be sure it doesn't stop running or anything)

Powerhead 

Some sort of media basket (can probably make one)

Media itself 

Heater (preferably one that fits in the back compartment somewhere)

Heater wrangler (one of the Ink[something] probes, I think)

Better light

 

So, what would everyone suggest? As for lights, I like the ones that are mostly white with a dash of blue, so something adjustable or already fairly white would be ideal. 

 

Are those Ammonia Alert badge things reliable enough to be worth having one? 

 

Non-tank-specific supplies: 

Refractometer

Gloves (suggestions?)

Coral food (Reef Roids) 

Shrimp food (need gluten-free due to allergies) 

Salt (think I'm going for whatever my LFS uses, they have happy corals in their long-term displays) 

Bucket for salt mixing (can add in that pump I take out of the filter)

Turkey baster

Siphon tubing 

Hand squeeze pump for siphon to avoid water in mouth (I want palys, and also to not get palytoxin poisoning) 

Water test kit (suggestions?) 

Pipettes 

Small container for fragging 

Surgical scissors 

Long tweezers 

Superglue gel 

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The light that comes with the evo is 50/50 so it has a lot of white and really doesn't need replacing with the livestock you want.

 

 

Don't know of any gluten free fish food options. Do you go into anaphylaxis with exposure through inhalation, or is it just a gluten allergy/intolerance via ingestion?

 

Gloves, any powder free nitrile or vinyl works. Armpit length pond gloves are good for ppl with sensitivities.

 

You may not need a powerhead with an upgraded pump. To avoid taking up room in a 5g, you can upgrade the pump and use an RFG nozzle.

 

 

 

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I've seen some people who said the evo light works, and some who said that it was just barely adequate. It looks like people are generally inclined to upgrade it either way, so that one's not a matter of needing a better light so much as wanting a better light. 

 

It's my mom who has the problem with gluten. If she touches something with gluten on it and then eats, she gets an assortment of nerve symptoms for a few days. The trouble is, if I were to, say, feed the fish, then touch something before washing my hands, and she touched that thing shortly after and then ate, it could give her symptoms. Water from a recently fed tank could also have gluten in it. It's just easier to avoid gluten food entirely, so there's no need to worry about absentminded cross-contamination. There used to be a guy who made gluten-free food that was sort of a crumble style, but he changed the recipe, so now every food that's not frozen or literally 2 ingredients has gluten. Some algae wafers are okay. 

I'm thinking an alternation of algae wafers and some sort of dried creature (probably mysis) would be an appropriate food for shrimp, since they'd also have whatever they could eat in the tank. I might put a bit of cuttlebone in there in case they need extra calcium to pick at. 

 

I'm hoping to get a reusable pair of elbow-length gloves for general tank maintenance. Seems like the safest option in terms of palytoxin avoidance. I know it's not too likely I'd get poisoned just from maintenance, but the gloves are such an easy step to take that I may as well wear them. I just need to find a pair that aren't several sizes too large. 

 

Avoiding taking up room would be ideal. Do you have any suggestions on what upgraded pump to use? There are so many options, so I'm kind of hoping someone will come along and say "I had that tank, here's the pump I used, it worked great". 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Tired said:

I've seen some people who said the evo light works, and some who said that it was just barely adequate. It looks like people are generally inclined to upgrade it either way, so that one's not a matter of needing a better light so much as wanting a better light. 

 

It's my mom who has the problem with gluten. If she touches something with gluten on it and then eats, she gets an assortment of nerve symptoms for a few days. The trouble is, if I were to, say, feed the fish, then touch something before washing my hands, and she touched that thing shortly after and then ate, it could give her symptoms. Water from a recently fed tank could also have gluten in it. It's just easier to avoid gluten food entirely, so there's no need to worry about absentminded cross-contamination. There used to be a guy who made gluten-free food that was sort of a crumble style, but he changed the recipe, so now every food that's not frozen or literally 2 ingredients has gluten. Some algae wafers are okay. 

I'm thinking an alternation of algae wafers and some sort of dried creature (probably mysis) would be an appropriate food for shrimp, since they'd also have whatever they could eat in the tank. I might put a bit of cuttlebone in there in case they need extra calcium to pick at. 

 

I'm hoping to get a reusable pair of elbow-length gloves for general tank maintenance. Seems like the safest option in terms of palytoxin avoidance. I know it's not too likely I'd get poisoned just from maintenance, but the gloves are such an easy step to take that I may as well wear them. I just need to find a pair that aren't several sizes too large. 

 

Avoiding taking up room would be ideal. Do you have any suggestions on what upgraded pump to use? There are so many options, so I'm kind of hoping someone will come along and say "I had that tank, here's the pump I used, it worked great". 

 

 

 

 

The light could probably work for you. I upgraded the light for controllability so I didn’t have to turn it on and off every day, plus it has a better spectrum/intensity. Also I got the Current USA LOOP system, which allows you to connect a wave pump. If you get this system and add a wave pump you could probably get away with not upgrading the return pump.  

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